


Sleepless

by Comatose_Overdose



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Harry Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Harry is mourning, Hermione Granger is a Good Friend, Ron Weasley is a Good Friend, avoiding nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:42:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21781642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Comatose_Overdose/pseuds/Comatose_Overdose
Summary: Harry can't sleep... or rather doesn't want to, after Cedric's funeral. He can't handle reliving it all again in his dreams. Ron is a good friend and stays up with him for comfort
Relationships: Cedric Diggory & Harry Potter, Harry Potter & Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger & Harry Potter
Kudos: 55





	Sleepless

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I've never posted anything here before, and in fact, haven't posted any fics ANYWHERE since mid-2012. I wrote this a few months ago when I was too deep in my feelings and forgot it existed until now. I don't know what's possessing me to post it, but I am.  
> It's short and simple but I'm happy with it, and I hope you enjoy.

It was raining.

It had been bright and sunny during Cedric Diggory's memorial, befitting such a bright, cheerful, and beloved young man. But now, as Harry sat alone in the Gryffindor common room long past midnight, it was raining. Harry couldn't help but prefer it. it felt more respectful in its own way as well. Or maybe he just saw it as solidarity in the school's mourning. _His_ mourning.

“Harry….” Hermione had begun gently, her eyes still red and puffy, “Harry you need to rest. You should get some sleep.” Her plea was thinly veiled as a suggestion, but even so, Harry ignored it, shaking his head. 

He knew what would happen if he fell asleep. He'd relive it all, the scene that flashed behind his eyelids every time he so much as blinked. He had done so every night of the five days since… _since._ He'd taken to putting up silencing charms around his four-poster so as to not disturb his dorm mates. Sleep was the last thing he wanted. What Harry _did_ want was to be alone to grieve for a friend he'd barely known before it was too late.

He regretted every bitter, envious thought he'd had towards Cedric now. He wished he could apologize and make amends, not that Cedric had ever even been aware of such thoughts. It seemed so ridiculous now.

The crack of thunder didn't surprise him or make him jump. Harry barely noticed it at all. What startled him was the hand on his shoulder.

“Mate, it's 3 am. You should get some sleep.” Ron had come to check on him.

“I can't. I don't want to. I don't want to see it again. I can't handle that right now.” Harry buried his head in his hands, unable to stop the shaking. He'd only just realized that he was.

Ron sat down on the couch beside him, unwilling to leave his friend alone any longer. He wasn't typically very tactile, but he pushed that aside and opened his arms. Harry leaned towards him immediately, accepting the comfort.

Harry had cried in the aftermath, when he'd brought Cedric's body back from the graveyard, and he'd cried in his sleep, in the throes of his nightmares and memories, but he hadn't cried at the funeral. He'd thought he couldn't anymore. But now, he cried in the arms of his best friend. For Cedric, for his loss. For the fear of knowing there was a war on the horizon. For himself and the trauma of what he had witnessed and being expected to just go on. For the betrayal from someone who he thought he could trust.

It wasn't the first time he'd seen death, not really. He'd seen his mother die when he was a baby, not that he remembered, and he'd seen Quirrel die just from touching him. But this was something wholly different, something that broke his heart and scared him witless.

They sat there together, and Ron didn't mind his nightshirt being soaked through as Harry sobbed deeply into his shoulder.

* * *

It was nearly dawn by the time they made their way back up to their dorm for bed, with a promise from Ron that Harry could wake him if needed, he wouldn't mind. With a sad, exhausted smile, Harry thanked him and climbed under the covers, finally falling asleep almost immediately. He didn't dream even once.

Hermione was up only an hour later but decided to let the boys sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for taking the time to read this. Feel free to comment if you liked it, it'd be really appreciated and would give me some of those sweet, sweet happy chems in my brain. God knows I need them.
> 
> I hope you have a lovely day.
> 
> {Coma~Dose}


End file.
